Joanne Margaret Brightman

Joanne Margaret (McGlenn) Brightman of Tracy, California, passed away March 29, 2024, after a lengthy illness. She was able to spend her final days at home, surrounded by a loving family.

Born in Calgary, Alberta, she relocated at age two to Port Angeles, Washington, where she lived through high school. Her love for her childhood home was a constant, and she always pulled for her Washington Huskies, as well as the Seahawks (when they weren't playing the Niners, anyway).

In the early '60s, a blind date with Thomas Brightman, an Army man stationed at nearby Fort Lewis, would lead to marriage and relocation to the Bay Area, where Tom was raised. They indeed didn't part until her death, after more than 57 years of marriage.

Joanne adored her two children, though if you ask Dad she caved a little too easily when they pleaded (okay, whined) for something. She worked for the West Contra Costa school district as a teacher aid for special-needs students, and later in customer service for Walmart when a job transfer for Tom moved them to Livermore.

She enjoyed camping with family, taking cruises with Tom, and extensively documenting their travels in her numerous photo albums, where no piece of ephemera was too small (swizzle sticks? parking receipts?). She and Tom retired to Reno, Nevada, then later resettled in Tracy to be closer to family.

Joanne is survived by her husband, daughter Diana, both of Tracy, son Dean and daughter-in-law Jodi Olson of Hercules, sister Willa Phillips of Sequim, Washington, sister and brother-in-law Judy & Bob Yearout of Durango, Colorado, sisters-in-law Jerry Goodman of San Andreas and Esther King of Livermore, and too many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews to even try to count.

We will miss her beaming smile, infectious laugh, and incredible decibel range that we still can't believe came from someone so tiny.